Bleacher seats typically are made of wood and consist of a single plank or seat board mounted either on permanent posts, as in many college stadiums, or on fold-up assemblies. Such seats, especially when permanently mounted outdoors, suffer considerable decomposition due to weathering. The wood from which the seat boards are formed also may become coarse and uncomfortable and unsafe to sit upon.
In recent years it has become feasible to retrofit and extend the life of wooden bleacher seats using single-piece protective caps. Bleacher seat caps generally comprise a C-shaped piece of plastic, such as polyvinylchloride, that has flanges along its lower edges. The cap is snapped atop the pre-existing seat board of the bleacher seat so that the flanges abut the lower surface of the seat board, and the cap covers the top, front and rear edges of the seat board. Such caps are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,513,896 and 5,505,517, both to Groh et al., which are incorporated herein by reference.
While the bleacher seat caps described in the foregoing patents offer significant benefits, the single-piece version of such bleacher seat caps are often difficult to install. Typically, these caps are installed using 3-inch wide, stiff, putty knives. A front edge of the cap is first slid into place on a front edge of the seat board, and a putty knife is then used to pry the rear edge of the cap over the rear edge of the seat board.
A drawback of previously known bleacher seat cap installation techniques, however, is that the putty knives can mar the finish of the caps. Moreover, because previously known installation techniques permit only a small portion of the cap to be installed at a time, the installation process may be quite time consuming. The costs of installation labor using such methods can comprise a significant fraction of the overall cost of a retrofit project. In addition, it is not uncommon for installers to sustain hand and finger injuries during the installation process, for example, by having fingers caught between the edge of the seat cap and the seat board, or by being cut by the putty knife.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an installation tool, and methods of use, that enable installation of bleacher seat caps without marring the exterior surface of the caps.
It also would be desirable to provide an installation tool, and methods of use, that enable installation of bleacher seat caps without the use of sharp objects, thereby reducing injury hazards to installers.
It further would be desirable to provide an installation tool, and methods of use, that enable bleacher seat caps to be installed more rapidly and with greater ease than previously known methods.
It still further would be desirable to provide an installation tool, and methods of use, that permit the reduction of labor costs associated with installing bleacher seat caps during a retrofit project.